(Topic ID: 104189)

Comet Club - Admit One

By midcoastsurf

9 years ago


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  • 1,751 posts
  • 189 Pinsiders participating
  • Latest reply 3 months ago by Evlclown
  • Topic is favorited by 88 Pinsiders

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You're currently viewing posts by Pinsider clarkgriswold.
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#1072 3 years ago

I'm joining the COMET Club! This is the pinball that got me started. I'm now on my 3rd Comet pinball and I finally have one that is in really nice condition. Minus the center ramp, which is a disaster. I read on another thread that someone was going to start making these and I'm hoping to get a new one when/if they make them.

Until that day comes, if it does. I'm wondering if anyone here has a spare one that I could purchase? If not, I'm wondering if anyone has any suggestions on how to correct the ramp I have (see picture). The end of my center ramp is mostly gone and the ball goes too far and doesn't register the switch. I've run a wire up the hole and over to force the ball to stop and drop over the switch to register completion of the ramp. I'm afraid that this is not great for the balls and could end up doing more harm than good.

Anyways - anyone have any suggestions?

Comet1 (resized).JPGComet1 (resized).JPGComet2 (resized).JPGComet2 (resized).JPG
#1074 3 years ago
Quoted from Freeplay40:

The original Comet center ramp was formed on a female mold. With vacuum forming, the plastic thins as it is stretched down into the ramp. Many ramps made with female molds that have a drop hole at the end of the ramp fail. At the end of the ramp like this one, the plastic is stretched in two directions exasperating the issue. What I have seen with these damaged ramps is that plastic that began as 1/8" before the forming ends up to be about 1/32" thick around the drop hole. When I make this new ramp I will reverse mold it on a male mold. The top rim of the ramp will no longer be curved over...it will be flat. This reverse forming will put the thickest plastic at the bottom of the ramp (Uh, where the ball is most dangerous).
This was also an issue on a Transporter ramp. See attached photo to demonstrate the end result of a male mold (Left in photo) vs an original (right in photo). The ramp will be further strengthened by using .150" plastic vs the original .125".
[quoted image]

Freeplay40 - I'm super happy that you're going to be making these ramps. The center ramps are almost always broken to some degree on these. I know other owners have been waiting for a long time for these too. I will get one immediately when they're available.

#1077 3 years ago
Quoted from Pinbub:

Actually all three ramps take a beating on Comet. If you want to see some awesome stuff order Marks Corkscrew and cycle jump ramps. AMAZING!

Do you have a link to these? My corkscrew is in fantastic shape, but the cycle jump plastic part is glued together (albeit very nicely)

#1081 3 years ago
Quoted from Pinbub:

[quoted image]
Freeplay 40 ramps are the red cycle jump ramp on the left of the top row and clear orange cork screw ramp on the left in the bottom row. Both are much sturdier than stock

Oh Man, that's it, I'm getting all 3 ramps. I like the look of the red cycle jump!

1 week later
#1093 3 years ago

This mod is likely not for everyone, but wanted to add something more to my Comet and ended up spending $20 (including shipping) from Mr_Tantrum for just the head of the comet coaster mod that he makes. (see: https://pinside.com/pinball/market/classifieds/ad/73183 ) He only charged $20 and included the led with it. AWESOME DEAL!

I installed directly over the entrance to the comet center ramp and I think it looks really good right there. The pictures really do not do it justice, but you get the idea. If anyone is looking for a cheap mod that's easy to install and can be removed easily. Anyone else do anything similar to their Comet? I would love to see some mods that everyone has done. If anyone is up for it, please post pictures if you have any of any mods to your Comet.

cr1 (resized).JPGcr1 (resized).JPGcr2 (resized).JPGcr2 (resized).JPGcr3 (resized).JPGcr3 (resized).JPG
1 week later
#1100 3 years ago
Quoted from midcoastsurf:

My lower left ball gate is mangled and I'm trying to figure out what it should look like. I believe it should only open one way, with ball traveling towards the left flipper, correct? The ball was getting stuck a lot if the gate opened to the left (ie. trying to trap a ball, ball would roll up to the gate and get stuck halfway under the gate).
Any pics of the proper angle of the top wires as well as the gate itself?

Mine is a mess too. If anyone know where to buy that specific gate please let us both know.

2 months later
#1164 3 years ago
Quoted from onlydjz:

nice work from friend of mine

Very nice restore.

At 4:52 in the video you can see a small post at the entrance of the left ball out lane (at the top of the train tracks). I've never seen this before and I'm wondering if that stops the ball from being able to drop down that lane? Anyone else ever seen a Comet with that post?

Screen Shot 2021-04-11 at 1.35.36 PM (resized).pngScreen Shot 2021-04-11 at 1.35.36 PM (resized).png

1 month later
#1179 2 years ago
Quoted from codered9394:

Anyone have a center ramp decal they want to sell.

Pinbub I believe has one for sale. PM him.

1 month later
#1202 2 years ago

Hey COMET owners! I got all 3 ramps from Mark and just getting around to starting to install. I did both the Corkscrew and Cycle Jump so far. Corkscrew went smoothly and is working 100%, but I'm running into a slight issue with the Cycle Jump and wondering if anyone else had the same issue and/or if anyone has a solution.

The new Cycle Jump is now just slightly higher than the end of the metal ramp and there is a gap as well. This means that no matter how well and strong I hit the shot from the right flipper it will not go past the first cycle circle. It looks to be just catching enough on the start of the cycle jump to slow it down enough to not be able to make the 1 million point shot. I tried about 100 times from a right flipper stall and never made it past the first one.

This shot was hard before, but certainly possible before I switched the ramp, so I know it's not the flipper strength. Any ideas on how to easily fix this? Pics below.

cycle1 (resized).jpegcycle1 (resized).jpegcycle2 (resized).jpegcycle2 (resized).jpeg
#1204 2 years ago
Quoted from vid1900:

Did you put the lock washers under the ramp instead of on top of it?

Not 100% positive exactly what you're asking, but I can confirm that I think I installed it correctly (or at least exactly how the original was installed when I got the game). The replacement cycle jump was installed using just the 4 screws (2 on top that have the locking threads and the 2 at the bottom that do not have the locking threads) all of which were installed from the top. I've taking off the cycle jump before to have access to switch out bulbs, but I've never taken off the metal jump ramp that leads to it. I was looking at that and wondering if I could raise it ever so slightly, but it didn't look possible. I'll mess around with it tomorrow and see if I can come up with something to get it working as well as before the change (unless anyone else has any advice) or if I did actually install it incorrectly.

I got the comet ramp installed now and with the 3 new ramps it's looking pretty good. I would love a new playfield, but those don't exactly exist...

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#1208 2 years ago
Quoted from Comet_20:

Where are you all getting the Comet ramp decal?

Only place that I know of is in Australia (that's where I got mine)

It took a few weeks for it to arrive from overseas.

Here's the link - looks like they only have 4 left.

https://www.pinballspareparts.com.au/31-1368.html

#1209 2 years ago
Quoted from Ryguy25:

Hey, try bending (carefully) the metal ramp slightly to adjust it’s angle to compensate for the new cycle jump height.

I'll take a look at this tonight. Wasn't sure if something like that could be done was I was looking t it yesterday.

#1212 2 years ago
Quoted from vid1900:

Maybe you got it with the wrong posts installed by a previous owner?
Swap the posts with shorter ones, or cut/grind the existing ones down
I don't have a comet here, but I'm sure someone can measure the proper height for you

Good idea - Taking a little bit off the posts would likely work, It's only about 1/8" higher than it should be.

Quoted from Pinbub:

Not all Comets had the metal protector at the ramp opening. Looking at Mark's ramps I doubt you need it.

You will not need it. I have one and didn't see the need to install it at all. It also looks better as you can see more of the Comet ramp decal. You will need to make the depth of the cutout area (where the entrance of the ramp sits on the playfield) a bit lower to get mark's beefed up ramp to set level with the playfield anyway. It's pretty easy to just make the depth the same "thickness" as the ramp, so it sits perfectly level.

1 month later
#1251 2 years ago
Quoted from Malenko:

I'm torn because my center ramp is fine, but I know if I get yours it'll last forever.
Since your plastic is thicker, can we install your center ramp without the metal plate at the bottom that covers up part of the coaster?

That's how I installed mine (without the metal entrance part). The plastic on Mark's ramps is extra thick, so you'll need to actually cut out a little more depth in the playfield where the entrance of the ramp sits to make it sit level with the playfield anyway. This wasn't hard to do at all and without the metal part and now you can see all of the Comet coaster decal.

3 months later
#1326 2 years ago
Quoted from chuckcasey:

Anyone know where I can buy a Comet center ramp. Prefer with entrance flap and sticker. I have it in my cart at Marco but $200 seems steep (and no entry flap).
I ordered Wolfpac kit for Comet(red) and a Swords of Fury(blue). My soldering iron is ready!
Hard top arrived but wont tackle install until after Thanksgiving.
Thanks for the advice about the backglass. I'm still shopping for one. The restoration price at BGResto is a little steep until I get some comparisons.

Go to Freeplay40 if possible. Really high quality and solid ramps - I replaced all 3 ramps on my Comet!

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1 month later
#1352 2 years ago

agreed that it looks like the red "ramp" is sitting up too high.

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3 weeks later
#1355 2 years ago
Quoted from flynnsarcade:

I,m working on installing comet center Ramp ,My game was missing center ramp ,What is used to attach center ramp entrance to playfield ,I attached some pictures i found ,Is this what i need ? Where can i get 1 Thank You
[quoted image][quoted image]

Do you have an old used or NOS comet ramp OR do you have a reproduction from Freeplay40?

Either way it is only attached at the entrance by the 3 tiny screws. If you have an old ramp you'll need that metal piece at the entrance as shown in your second picture. If you have the repro Freeplay40 ramp, then you don't need the metal piece, but you might need to hollow out a little bit of the play field at the entrance to make the ramp set level with the playfield at the entrance.

The old ramp requires the metal piece to get the ramp level with the playfield. The repo ramp requires you to "shave" off a little bit of the playfield at the entrance to get the ramp level at the entrance. The repro ramps are made thicker (so they will actually last the lifetime of the game). The originals are really thin and easily break (which is likely why yours was missing)

Comet1 (resized).jpegComet1 (resized).jpeg
4 months later
#1467 1 year ago
Quoted from pyrotech:

My wife and I just bought a project Comet to work on. Does anyone know where I can find new bumper caps and some cool apron cards? Thanks Pyrotec

The best apron cards for Comet I've seen were a design from Mr_Tantrum - you could DM him.

#1468 1 year ago
Quoted from GraniteStatePin:

Also in Function #34 ...Game Adjustments #4 Background/Attract Mode Sound there is a column labeled "Spot ducks/rabbits double target" which can be changed from on to off. Does anyone know what this does?"

Not positive, but I believe this turns on/off the rule that allows a single duck/rabbit target hit to also light an additional duck/rabbit next to the one that was hit. I believe that it only does that the first time you hit them and once you light the center comet ramp they then only count as the single target hit.

(Edited for formatting reasons)

1 year later
#1731 6 months ago
Quoted from interconnect:

Correct coils installed. FL-23-600. I guess it is possible; was messing with it. You're right; has to be literally perfect and dead nuts straight up the ramp to make it. Even the slightest bit off and it won't make it all the way around.

It's the hardest shot on the table (I suppose the 200k cycle jump is harder?), but should be reasonably makable from a cradle on the right flipper. I make it about 50% of the time, as it leaves little room for error. I shoot for it a lot from a right cradle or the fun house kick-out to try to light the 1986 for the double/triple/5-times scoring multiple times on each ball.

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